There were at least six groups that were washed out to sea and then floated and paddled from El Salvador to Mexico, following the water currents, after the tsunami: the Huave, the Zapoteca, the Triqui, Choluteca/Itza, Tlapanec, and Otomi (one part), and two groups that survived from Nicaragua to Mexico, the Otomi (other part) and Purepecha (one part). The water current flows from Nicaragua and El Salvador toward Mexico during the rainy season from May 1 to October 31 each year. Three other groups paddled from one of these original Mexican locations to a nearby place on the coast: the Mixteca, the Amuzgo, and the Chatino. All of the names that they took describe the tragic story of the tsunami. Most of these groups had a major impact on the history of Mexico. In addition there were two groups that survived the tsunami and paddled on the Atlantic from Central America: the Tunica and the Mopan. The story begins with the Zapoteca and the Huave.

The Zapoteca and the Huave

The Huave were likely the first people to land in Mexico from El Salvador, having been washed offshore by the tsunami. Various names indicate that they were Totonac from coastal present-day La Libertad. Probably several hundred years before the tsunami the Totonac had given up the human sacrifice practice. But for some reason - religious or power - the small group of Totonac who paddled in the ocean toward eastern Oaxaca decided when they landed to reintroduce first-born child sacrifice. Their name explains: Huave is wa ap per and means “beings who swing at the collapsed (newborns).”

It seems it was the Huave who named Oaxaca, or wa as tza ak’ ka, meaning “beings who practice on the skin of the beginners (newborn) at the wetness (the Laguna Superior).” The ‘x’ in Oaxaca likely had an ‘s’ sound. A ‘ch’ sound also refers to newborn sacrifice: wa ach cha ak’ ha or “double skin from the turtle beings at the water,” with double skin referring to wearing the peeled skin of the sacrifice victim. And turtle is an expression for pregnant woman. Oaxaca with the ‘x’ sounding like an ‘h’, as it is most commonly stated today, does not have a good translation with Mi.

Within a few days or weeks, the Cuscatlan (Zapoteca) survivors landed at the very same place as the Huave - they started from a more easterly point so it would have taken them longer to arrive. The Zapoteca would have heard the names Huave and Oaxaca and have known exactly what was going on and would have been horrified. They would have been living about 100 kilometers from the Totonac-Huave in El Salvador and likely knew them.

Like the others, the Zapoteca ancestors still spoke Mi when the tragedy happened. Zapoteca is tz’a ap pot te’ ek’ ha’ and means “pressed by the swinging wetness on branches under the stars in the water.” They survived on branches out in the ocean, the ocean current took them west-northwest and they paddled to move closer to shore until they landed at present-day eastern Oaxaca. Like the name Tecoluca, Zapoteca mentions navigating or being under the stars, and references the lineage name Ehecatl, leader of the migration from Chile to El Salvador about 1400 years before. This reference links the Zapoteca to the Tecoluca-Lower Lempa area of El Salvador and with the Ik’ (Ehecatl) lineage.

The name Zapoteca has a double meaning meant specifically for the Huave people: “shelter by wood (dugout) under the stars for the swung-at beginners (newborn) at the hole (Laguna Superior).” Not only did the Zapoteca name let the Huave know that they would be there to support them if they escaped but also told them the best way to escape - by canoe along the coast at night. This simple but clear invitation to Huave pregnant women existed for the thousands of years that the Zapoteca lived alongside the sacrifice-practicing Huave. No wonder that the Huave male leaders had so much enmity for the Zapoteca.

Salina Cruz is located near the ocean at the western edge of Laguna Superior, perhaps where the Zapoteca landed. It is sal li in nak’ k’er rus and means “beside the swimmers in the wall who gash the first sperm (firstborn).” This name indicates that the Huave decided from the beginning to practice sacrifice.

Further to the west, Tehuantepec is te’ wa an tep ek’ and means “beings on the hard logs in the current under the stars.” This name recalls the cultural name Tehuacan, El Salvador, where the Zapoteca had come from, making it clear that the Zapoteca, not the Huave, named this place. The double meaning here is te uh an tep pek or “those of the sacred plant (corn) run to the hard hills” - running away from the Huave.

While Tehuantepec talks about the floating journey to Oaxaca, Juchitan de Zaragoza, north of Tehuantepec, looks back at those who died in present-day El Salvador. This name also links Tehuacan, in the lower Lempa of El Salvador, with these tsunami survivors. It is an indicator that the name Tehuacan, El Salvador, came before the name Tehuacan, Puebla. Juchitan is huch’ ch’i’h it ta’ an and means “large blow of current pressed the remnant,” with remnant or remainder referring to those who didn’t make it to Oaxaca. Juchitan has a similar sound as Ojushtada, with both using the uncommon syllable huch’, indicating that the Cuscatlan in El Salvador likely named Ojushtada after they had visited Juchitan. Zaragoza was used by the Zapoteca to identify for others the ethnicity of the Huave, since Zaragoza refers back to Zaragoza in the present-day day department of La Libertad of El Salvador, where the Totonac were based. In this context Zaragoza is tza ar ra ak’ k’o os ha’ and means “tired of blades on skin on those set down at the water by the wall.” The Zapoteca left the lagoon area because they were tired of the sacrifice practice.

A little to the north, the town of Ixtepec Oaxaca is at the base of the mountains that lead to Oaxaca City. It is ix tep pek’ Oaxaca and means “moving to the hard hills, from the Oaxaca.” Oaxaca refers to the Huave. A double meaning of Ixtepec is “separate and move in the trees under the stars,” indicating that they snuck away at night, likely at risk of death.

One hundred sixty kilometers west of Ixtepec Oaxaca is Miahuatlan, which is mi ar wat la an and means “time of the cats from the fatigued current to make a home.” This may be the first place that the Zapoteca survivors settled upon arriving to the Oaxaca valley. The ending syllable lan or “fatigued current” is the same as that often used to describe the Gulf of Fonseca. But here it is referencing the Laguna Superior and is not meant to suggest that the Oaxaca people were of the same lineage as the Gulf of Fonseca people (Olmeca/Lenca/Anahuac). The hidden ‘r’ after ‘Mia’ could also be a hidden ‘p’, giving a meaning of “run to make a home, tired of the swinging of the cats (Huave),” which indicates that not only were the Huave practicing sacrifice but also were violently opposing those who challenged their sacrifice practice, like the Zapoteca.

Names on the north and west side of the lagoon are likely Huave names or were named by those who escaped from the Huave. Just like the Ch’orti’ earlier in Central America, the pregnant women of the Huave began to flee the first-born sacrifice practice, first going by canoe along the coast and later going to the hills to the northeast of the coastal lagoons. Santiago Niltepec is san ti ak’ k’o on ni il te’ pek and means “previously at the mouth, covered by the biting swelling, saw the knobby hills and trees.” It has a double meaning of “healing plant for skin,” indicating they found a healing plant. It has a third meaning of “run from the blades opening skin by wood on the wetness and trees to the hills.” This name was named by those running from the Huave and refers to escaping by canoe on the water or running through the trees to the hills to the north. It also has a meaning of "previously putting blade on skin" which refers to the Totonac who earlier had practiced human sacrifice but then stopped that practice before the tsunami.

San Francisco Ixhuatan is san ber ra an si ix k’oix wa’ ta’ an in Mi and means “movement of beings tired of the blade on the collapsed, remnant running movement from the wetness of the fatigued current." It has a double meaning of "make a home in the interior.” This name speaks of the remnant of escaped Huave women who ran to Chiapas and became called Mocho. Ran is a cultural indicator for the Olmeca, suggesting that the San Francisco portion of the name was added after the Olmeca arrived along the Gulf Coast and Chiapas in about 1600 BCE, when the Olmeca began to assist the escaping Huave women.

The next town north is Reforma de Pineda. Using the whole name provides rep po or ma te hep pi in ne eht ta or “challenge of paddling from the bad leaders, remnant of the treed separated tailed first ones.” “Tailed first ones” refers to the firstborn who still were attached by the umbilical cord. This that after some time it became impossible for the Huave pregnant to escape by water toward the western Oaxaca coast and instead began to run by land to the north into the mountains, given the double meaning of “separating by the trees.

Xocotepec on the north coast of the Laguna Occidental, the lagoon to the east of Laguna Superior-Inferior, also speaks of the escaping Huave women. The obvious meaning of Xocotepec is cho ok’ k’o ot tep pek or “shelter in the hard hills for those splitting from the blades of the reputed ones (Huave - Totonac Ch’orti’) for the hard hills.” The name indicated to escaping women that Xocotepec was a place to go up to the hills. The Xoco- prefix was meant to mimic the Joco- prefix of Jocotan, Guatemala. And similar to Jocotan, Xocotepec had a hidden pronunciation. Like the ‘x’ used in much of Mexico, the ‘x’ here had a second pronunciation, a ‘z’. The hidden Zok prefix of Xocotepec refers to the Mixe-Zoque or Olmeca, which let women know that the Olmeca would shelter them in the hills, but in the more distance mountains of the Central Highlands rather than the coastal range. This would have been more than 5,000 years after the tsunami, after the Olmeca arrived from Central America.

Santo Domingo Zanatepec or san to om mi in k’o tza an aht tep ek’, which means “first ones sacrificed by the teeth of the swollen bath, cats in current of foamy wetness on hard pieces under the stars,” describing both those who perished and the journey on the hard branches. It also has a double meaning referencing the Huave women who ran up to the hills from here: “cats’ blades sacrificing first ones at the foamy wetness, run to the hard distant hills.” Inserting the adjective far into the meaning informed women to run to the more distant mountains.

The lagoon southeast of the Laguna Occidental is Laguna La Joya or la ach cho ya, meaning “turtles (pregnant women) tired of the pain of the Cho (Huave).” A double meaning is lach or “strip,” telling women to use the strip of islands on the south part of the lagoon for cover. These islands will be covered later. Cabeza de Toro is on the east coast of Laguna La Joya. It is k’ar ra ab etz tza at te eht to or ro and means “challenge of those tired of the swinging, observe the bath and trees to retain those freeing themselves of the sacrifice demanded by the leaders.” This place was named by the Huave as they watched the lagoon for women who tried to escape. It has a double meaning of “disappearance.” The women who did disappear called themselves Mocho, mo och cho or “trapped by the reputed ones at the entrance (Laguna Superior).”

The Huave likely originated from the Playa San Diego area east of present-day Puerto La Libertad. The name Playa Toluca, site of the ancient sailing stones from the journey from Chile, appears to be referring to the Huave. It is to ol uk' ka and means "sadness for the beginners (first-born) sacrificed by the leaders." The name Toluca is very similar to Tecoluca, indicating that it was the Cuscatlan, sister people of the Zapoteca, who named it. One kilometer from the sailing stones is the village of Santa Cruz, which is san ta ak' k'er rus or "remnant that swam in the swollen and gashed the skin," another reference to the Huave.

While the Zapoteca names at times refer to the mouth - the mouth of the Lempa River - as an origin point, it is also possible that they or a portion of them were from the peninsulas just west of the Lempa River. Peninsula La Colorada is k’ol lo or at ta or “remnant loose in the crest of the bath and transported.” Peninsula El Zapote, now called Costa del Sol, is west of Colorado and appears like it may have been named after the Zapoteca. Zapote is tz'a ap po ot te, meaning "pressed by the swinging wetness, on branches" with a double meaning of "shelter for those on wood (dugouts) from the swinging at the wet hole."

Monte Alban and the Zapoteca

Returning to the Zapoteca, soon the descendants of the survivors of the tsunami created a memorial on top of what they would call Monte Alban hill, perhaps with a few stones to begin with. Monte Alban is moh on ter ra al bah an in Mi and means “ridge for the time of the ancestors’ bodies which tired trapped in the current.” The use of the term “ancestors” seems to indicate that those who created the memorial were at least one generation beyond the survivors. Monte Alban has an alternate meaning as well: “the time of the ancestors who ran through the trees tired of the constricting of the bodies.” It seems to be a memorial both for those who died in the tsunami and for the ancestors who escaped the Huave by running through the woods at night. Another name for Monte Alban is Daniban, which, for the Zapoteca, has the meaning of “sacred hill of the dead.” Its original Mi meaning was similar to Monte Alban. Daniban is ta’ ni’ ib bah an and means “hill for the spirits of the remains of the bodies in the current.” An alternate meaning here is “run for the hills from the remnant at the current.” The presence of the Huave is a reason that the Zapoteca went up to the mountains so quickly and the continued pursuit of the Huave may also explain their later move to Tehuacan, Puebla.

Another name of a Zapotec-related people also seems to have its origin at the time of the tsunami: Ixcatec: ix k’at te’ ek’ – “cross (from El Salvador) moving on wood by the stars.” This name repeats k’at, a syllable found in Cuscatlan, the name for El Salvador, and was found in the name of founding ancestor Ehecatl. K'at was associated with the Ik' lineage.

Other ethnicities closely related to the Zapoteca include a group of Cuscatlan (Ik’ lineage) swept off the coast of present-day La Paz of El Salvador, landing ashore in western Oaxaca, the Triqui, and the Amuzgo, a group of Zapoteca who moved to eastern Guerrero.

The Date for the Tsunami

It would appear that the Zapoteca arrived at Tehuacan, Puebla, soon after they arrived to Oaxaca in the tsunami. The Tehuacan name indicates that it was likely the Zapoteca who arrived at Tehuacan, Puebla, since they were from Tehuacan, El Salvador. The nearby cultural name Coxcatlan cave indicates why. Coxcatlan is k’o och k’at la an, meaning “crossed because of the blades at the entrance of the fatigued current.” This indicates that the Zapoteca went to Puebla from Oaxaca in order to evade the Huave who had pursued them up into the Oaxaca mountains. Coxcatlan also refers obviously to Cuscatlan.

The 7220 BCE date for the tsunami is arrived at by the archeological record at Tehuacan, Puebla, which shows a consistent presence a little after that date and the dating of the end of Nipigon stage at Lake Agassiz, estimated to be 7150 BCE. MacNeish studied the history of habitation at the Coxcatlan cave and other sites near Tehuacan, Puebla. Douglas S. Byers and Richard S. MacNeish, ed. The Prehistory of the Tehuacan Valley, 5 vol. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1967. He found sporadic habitation or visits prior to 7200 BCE, some as early as 9000 BCE and others just prior to 7200 BCE. The earliest visits were likely made by the ancestors of the Xibalba, although after the arrival of the pre-Maya from South America, either group (Xibalba or pre-Maya) could have made long distance journeys to Mexico. MacNeish’s findings are consistent with a tsunami date between 7250 and 7200 BCE.

Like many other Mesoamerican people, the Zapoteca have a flood story as part of their story of origin. While some of the Zapoteca flood myth closely parallels the Biblical story, making it hard to know which parts were original and which were borrowed from the Spanish, one part of the myth states that Petela, a great Zapoteca chieftain, descended from flood survivors. Petela is pet tel ha’ and means “water pouring over the ridge.” It has a double meaning of pet te hel la or “women tired of the tree (position) at the pouring.” The pouring refers to the tides pouring in and out of the Laguna Superior. This indicates that the earliest Zapoteca leaders assisted Huave women to leave. Petela also contains the cultural prefix pet- which is found in Purepecha and Miwok names as well, linking these ethnicities.

The Triqui and the Mixteca

The Triqui may have been from the Rio Jiboa area of present-day La Paz, El Salvador. They appear to have landed near the southernmost point of Oaxaca, Puerto Angel - just east is Salchi, tza al chi, or “time of the large wetness,” with “wall” as a double meaning. One link to Rio Jiboa is the name Tilapa, a very early name next to Rio Jiboa in El Salvador which appears to identify a mastodon in the very first weeks that the Mesoamerican ancestors were in Central America. There is also a Tilapa close to the Triqui center of San Juan Copala. In addition, with ik’ in their name, the Triqui identifed as an Ik’ lineage, like the Zapoteca. They landed west of the Zapoteca, which would likely mean that they were from an area to the west of the Zapoteca Lempa River origin in El Salvador. The Rio Jiboa mouth is the most likely place of their origin. A further reference to the area currently named La Paz, El Salvador, is the town of Zacatepec in western Oaxaca, a reference to Zacatecoluca, El Salvador, named in the aftermath of the tsunami.

Soon pregnant women from the Huave, facing the sacrifice of their first-born, began to escape toward the Triqui on the coast, paddling 140 kilometers on the ocean current. Puerto Angel is an che hel or “women handled the current.” They may have hid and slept in the day and paddled at night. They became the founders of the Mixteca. Mixteca is mi ix te’ ek’ ha’ and means “cats moving on water under the stars and among the trees,” a hint that they slept among the trees of the shore to hide during the day. The autonym mi (in Mixteca) was much more frequent among the Ch’orti’-Totonac lineage (including the Huave) than among the Ik’-based lineage, like the Zapoteca and Triqui. The name Triqui makes sense alongside the Mixteca founders. It is ta’ ar ri ik’ ki and means “time of the dear remnant beside the Ik’,” with a double meaning of “arrive.”

East of Puerto Angel is Playa Estacahuite, which is etz’ ta ak’ k’ar wi te, which is “observe for the wood (canoes) of the remnant from the blows to the navel skin of the retained (newborn).” It was the Triqui who were waiting there to observe and help the escaping Huave women. The name also carries a cultural lineage syllable hui, which indicates a Ch’orti’ lineage originally from Güija. The name has a second meaning regarding the Triqui's first landing on the shore themselves, “observe trees on dry ground since beginning of explosion (blast),” with another meaning of "dry," i.e. dry land. Nearby El Radar is hel ra at tar in Mi, meaning “women arrive tired from the bath.” To the east, Tahueca is ta wer kah or “remnant whose beginners were torn away.” Inland is Santa Maria Huatulco. It is tza an ta am ma ar ri wat tu ul k’o and means “time of the remnant who explained the corpses from the blades and ran in the wetness from the bad spiders, make a home beside.” Huatulco describes the first home of the pregnant Huave women who became the Mixteca. The syllable tul recalls Tulan, the island home of the Maya where human sacrifice began.

Also inland a few kilometers is San Pedro Pochutla, which is tza an pet tar ro po och chu ut ta la and means “arrival of remnant tired of the guards at the entrance of the hole, through the pouring (tides) current at the opening of the wetness, free,” with a double meaning of “peeled skin.” This is another indication that Huave pregnant women and perhaps men too escaped by boat from Laguna Superior and made it to the Mixteca coast. One of the barrios of San Pedro Pochutla is Guaydiguelle. This appears to be as old as Pochutla. It is way ti Ik’ hel lep and means “women paddling through the opening dreaming (at night) to the Ik’.” This meaning reinforces the meaning of Pochutla.

Names on the west side of Puerto Angel indicate that the Triqui and Mixteca also lived there. First, is Cometa or k’o om et ha’, which means “challenge of the teeth (rocks) in the foamy water,” indicating the difficulty in reaching shore there. But Cometa has a second meaning, “challenge of joining the remnants,” perhaps indicating a challenge in bringing the Mixteca and Triqui together, being from different lineages, although it could also be speaking about the Chatino, a remnant from the Otomi.

Just inland is Mazunte, ma as su un te, “on wood (canoes) from the bad practice to the children on a layer,” describing the child sacrifice practice of the Huave. There are two double meanings: “wrap-around,” which describes the umbilical cord still attached to the newborns at the time of sacrifice, and “foreign,” which indicates a belief that the practice originated much earlier with the foreigners (Xibalba).

Just east on the coast is San Agustinillo, which directly references the name San Agustin in the Ik’ (Cuscatlan) area of El Salvador. San Agustin, El Salvador, describes the first death of the ancestors at the hands of the Xibalba. San Agustinillo, Oaxaca, is very clear about the first-child newborn sacrifice practice. It is tza an nak’ k’us ti in ni il lo and means “see from the hill those running from the wetness free from the opening up of the first sperm at giving birth.” It has a double meaning of “curing” - their leaving cured them from the practice. Another meaning is “come to life” which describes the hope that the Mixteca had in a new place.

Another nearby name is Chacahua or cha ak’ k’ar wa’ is “beings retained for the two skins.” This name references the two-skin practice of the god Chaac, usually used to invoke rain. I understand this name to refer to a practice back in the Huave area, not along the Mixteca coast. Chacahua recalls the name Chalagua found back in the Jiboa area of El Salvador, near where the Triqui were likely from. El Carnero is k’ar ne her ro or “women free from being retained for the tail (umbilical cord).”

Cuatode is ka wa at to ot te and means “wood shelter for the beings from the sacrifice of the beginner (newborn) at the bath.” It has a double meaning of “make a home” and Totonac, another link between the Mixteca and the Huave (and Totonac). Inland from Cometa is Santa Maria Tonameca. It is tza an ta am ma ar ri at to on nam ek’ ha and means “time of the remnant beside who ran in the wetness from the bad spiders at the bath in the water under the stars, disappearance of the previous sacrificing.” It has double meanings of “depths” and “wrestle” which might indicate that a woman (women) was drowned when a Huave guard caught up with her. The name also makes it clear that the bad practice of the Huave did not continue with the Mixteca. The closest nations to the Mixteca are the Mocho Maya, followed by the Kanjobal, the Ch’orti’, the Chol, the Tzetzil, and the Choluteca.

Inland to the west is Santa Rosa de Lima Tututepec which became a Mixteca kingdom in the Classic period. It is san ta ar ro os at te hel li im ma tut tu ut tep ek’ in Mi and means “small opening in the hard plug from swollen bath, corpses beside from the bad blast, time of remnant of women set down after loose under the stars.” This indicates a knowledge of the cause of the tsunami, describing Lake Agassiz (Winnipeg) and the deaths that took place there, followed by a brief description of the Mixteca remnant who began a new life after surviving the tsunami and the conditions of the Huave. The phrase "hard plug" can not be translated in another way and is the key to linking this name to Lake Agassiz.

Finally, the place name Santa Cruz Zenzontepec, 60 kilometers north of Zapotalito, is a direct link to the Cuscatlan and Ulua and the place name of Sensuntepeque, El Salvador, an Ulua place name 10 kilometers off the Lempa River and 80 kilometers north of the mouth. Sensuntepeque references the Xibalba, therefore it was named at least 200 years earlier, when the Maya defeated the Xibalba. Because the Ulua and the Triqui came out of the same lineage, Santa Cruz Zenzontepec would be a Triqui name and means "hard hill of those with knowledge of the ancestors in the curve (tsunami)."

The Mixteca have a similar flood myth as the Zapoteca. It says that the earth was well populated but humans were punished with a flood due to a significant fault. One can imagine that this fault related to the violence display of power (human sacrifice) which afflicted the Totonac for a time prior to the tsunami. Like the Zapoteca, the Mixteca people descended from the few survivors of the flood, according to the myth.

The Choluteca (Itza)

The Huave were not the only part of the Ch’orti’-Totonac lineage to be washed offshore by the tsunami and to float from present-day El Salvador to present-day Mexico. Names along the coast of western Oaxaca indicate the Choluteca (Itza) also floated from west-central El Salvador to Mexico.

The Choluteca consists today of groups in the Yucatan, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. The Choluteca migrated to Puebla, Mexico. Later the main group of the Choluteca (Mangue) migrated to southern Central America during the late Toltec period when they were attacked. Their strongest tie to the Oaxaca coast is linguistic – they are part of the Oto-Manguean language group. The name Mangue appears to come from when they were attacked in Puebla, while Chorotega was probably a name taken upon arrival to Honduras and Nicaragua. While the Chiapaneco are grouped together with the Choluteca linguistically, it is possible that the Chiapaneco originated from the Huave, another Totonac-related group.

The Choluteca seem to have arrived on the southwest coast of Oaxaca near San Jose Manialtepec. The cultural name Choluteca probably dates from this time. They used the convention of the -teca suffix, similar to their neighbors Zapoteca and Mixteca. Choluteca is cho hol uh te ek’ ha and means “esteemed sacred one (shaman) on crest of water on branches under the stars.” The spiritual leader mentioned in the name is likely the same one mentioned in the names Sunzacuapa and Chiltiupan on the La Libertad coast of El Salvador. San Jose Manialtepec is san cho os tze em ma an ni al te pek and means “time of descending the hills in the bad upright swelling, in the current on branches, Cho set down by the hills.” Cho is a cultural marker for the Ch’orti’ lineage. It has a double meaning of “swollen lungs in the current.”

La Alejandria is just east of San Jose Manialtepec. It is la al leb ba an tar ri ha and means “time of tired bodies arriving beside by paddling in the water current.” East of there is Bajos de Chila, a name which was chosen after a visit by those in La Libertad, as it mimics La Shila there. It is ba os tech’ chi’ il ha’ in Mi, meaning “see the expanded bodies set down by the large water.” It discusses seeing bodies washing up on shore after they arrived there.

To the west is El Cacalote. It has three meanings. First, ka k’al lo ot te is “wood shelter for those retained and then loose (in the ocean) at the beginning.” The second meaning is clear, kaka al lo te’ and means “time of the loose cacao pods.” This indicates that the Amuzgo shared cacao pods with the Choluteca to be planted. Using the adjective “loose” makes it clear that they were pods, not plants. A third meaning of Cacalote is k’ak’ k’al lo ot te’ and means “shelter for those free on wood (dug-outs) from the retentions of the fire,” with fire (k’ak’) referring to the Kakchiquel. This indicates that in addition to the Amuzgo (to be discussed), the Choluteca assisted Otomi women escaping from the sacrifice regime of the Otomi men. Both the Huave and the Choluteca were from the Totonac (originally Ch’orti’) lineage, but unlike the Huave, the Choluteca did not re-initiate human sacrifice once in Mexico.

A couple kilometers northeast of El Cacalote is San Isidro Campechero San Martin is san ni is it ta ar lo ok’ k’a am pech che’ her ro’ os san ma ar ti in and means “loose Pech women remnant handle spidering (paddling) in the wet current, happy to be free from the blows which split open the set down first ones (newborns), movement to the swollen hills.” They used a cultural identifier “orphan” Pech that pertains to the Poto (Olmeca-related) lineage: in this case referring to an Otomi woman. If the Choluteca themselves practiced human sacrifice they would not have assisted the Otomi women fleeing the practice of human sacrifice. San Isidro Campechero San Martin was likely the source for the name of the Mexican state Campeche, named thousands of years later by the Choluteca (Itza).

Tiltepec is 10 kilometers inland from San Jose Manialtepec. It’s ti il te pek’ and means “see the opening in the hard hills.” It has a double meaning of “see the wood (dug-outs) under the stars” indicating the boats of the escaping Otomi women. Another 12 kilometers is Santa Lucia Teotepec, perhaps the strongest link to La Libertad, El Salvador. Teotepeque was the first center for the Ch’orti’ (Totonac) in La Libertad following the flood at Lago Guija. Santa Lucia Teotepec is san ta al lus si at Teotepec and means “time of the many swimmers in the swollen bath, shelter for remnant in trees of the hard hills,” with a double meaning of “arrival.”

San Pedro Mixtepec to the east speaks about the arrival of the Mixteca, next to the Choluteca. It is tza an pet ta ar ro om mi ix te pek and means “time of the remnant cats who moved in the wet current then to the hills to be free from the foamy tree at the pouring.” Foamy tree refers to human sacrifice. The pouring refers to the tide pouring through the entrance of the Laguna Superior. The Choluteca and the Mixteca were from the same lineage, so there was a natural affinity.

It seems that the Choluteca may have moved quite early to Puebla. The names there indicate a possible early habitation while names from El Salvador were still fresh in their minds. San Pedro Cholula is san pet tar ro och cho ol uh lap, meaning “arrival to the entrance (between the volcanos) by the esteemed shaman who had been loose stroking in the swollen crest of the pouring (tides).” San Pedro Cholula lies near the saddle (the “entrance”) between two 5,000 meter (17,000 ft) mountains, Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl. The name also recalls San Pedro Mixtepec. Interestingly, Cholula also seems to mimic the name Ulua. That would not be a lineage marker, but rather a political marker to indicate that they had chosen not to resume the human sacrifice practice, unlike the Huave.

Iztaccihuatl Mountain is it tza ak’ si wat ta al in Mi and means “time of the movement of the remnant to make a home by the blowing residue covering (ash from Popocatepetl).” The name has a double meaning of is tak or “move to the dry one” to indicate that it was a dry volcano (not active). Popocatepetl was named by the Purepecha rather than the Choluteca.

While the Puebla part of Puebla de Zaragoza probably comes from the Post-Classic period, the name Zaragoza is likely ancient and links it to the same name in La Libertad, El Salvador. Zaragoza here is sar ra ak’ k’o os tza, meaning “setting down by the wall (Iztaccihuatl) and the wet one (Popocatepetl) tired of the blade on the skin.” It is another confirmation that they did not resume the sacrifice practice. The Huave also used the name Zaragoza to link back to El Salvador.

Later, in the Classic era, the main portion of the Choluteca began to call themselves Chorotega and Mangue. It was from the mountain, Iztacchihuatl, that the Itza (Choluteca) took their name, although by switching letters, the name seems to refer to Popo, as Itza means “the wet one (active volcano) blowing.”

The next installment will describe the amazing struggle to end the practice of human sacrifice among the Otomi. Cuauhtemoc finally prevailed.

The story will be presented in three parts: the first days in the country when they walked east from Toluca Beach (close to where surfers come now from all over the world) to the Lempa River, crossing the river and going toward the volcanos of Usulután. One knows of this story due to the meaning of the names of the villages and rivers where they passed in proto Ch'orti', the language they spoke. To keep these names alive no doubt that the Maya ancestors covered this same path on foot each generation, telling stories along the way. The second part begins with the capture of the Maya ancestors by a tribe of large people in Galingagua. From there they made a dramatic march to the base of the large ones in Corinto cave. Earlier I described the colors of the cave and presented photos of it. Soon they escaped and ran back along the same path probably at night, turning off it near Yoloaiquin and then followed a few kilometers off the south bank of the Torola River until they arrived at San Juán de Edén. There they had a little more security because, as they soon found out, once they waded into the Lempa River the large ones would not follow. They made mini rafts for the babies call auilix or ahwilix, the first of the three dieties that provided to them in the wilds of El Salvador.

[Note on the letters: The l and r were equal. The b and p were equal. The k' was normally pronounced by the Lenca, Pipil, and Spanish like a g. The w was pronounced by the Lenca like gü. At times the t was pronounced like a d by the Spanish.]

The four rafts land on the shore. The stones are still there.

1 - Toluca: tor uk' ka: Beginning of sadness caused by the bruisers. Place of arrival, named later. The same with the neighboring beach, Amatal, which is "arrival to the bad ones."

2 - Rio Huiza: wih tz'ah: Source of wetness (water)

3 - Rio Comalapa: ko' mar lap pa': Preparation of gourds for food brought from ocean (carried with them on the rafts)

14 - Laguna Talquezal: tal k'ech tz'ah: arrival of Carry Bright Colors. The quetzal. This might be why they had pleasure in nearby Guajoyo. From this day the quetzal has its name.

15 - Quebrada Roldan: lor tahn: dark spot in the interior. Upon crossing the Lempa River, they walked up Roldan Creek, seeing the darkness of Taburete Hill and the mountains of Usulután, until arriving at Galingagua.

16 - Galingagua: k'ar in k'ah wa': remembering being first retained. A thought of one who made it through the ordeal and returned to the place of the capture.

17 - El Zúngano: tzun k'an noh: the greedy yellow large ones. Greedy (tzun) is almost like foreigner, tzur. So this could be "yellow large foreigners."

19 - Los Chapetones: ch'a' bet ohn ehtz: Duty to watch previous lying down. They took turns watching through the night. First night of being captured

21 - Tecapán: te' kap ban: brown leaves held by the teeth. The large ones stopped to get some tobacco. Perhaps they were in the area getting tobacco leaves when they heard the Maya ancestors.

22 - El Tigre: ti' k'ere': slicing mouth. The jaguar. In a bit we will learn that one of the large ones was scratched. This is the first encounter of the Maya ancestors with the jaguar. El Cerro Tigre has always carried the name of the tiger, slicing mouth.

25 - Chagüite: ch'a' wit te': lying down at opened up tree. Second night captured. Perhaps this type of tree later became named Amate.

26 - Jucuapa: huk' wa' bah: being scrapes his body

27 - Chinameca: ch'i'ih nam mek ha': wrestle with a large one over disappeared water

The names of the villages around Chinameca tell more of the story of the injured large one and the wrestling match there, some have names that sounded like Spanish words/names and were given a similar-sounding Spanish name:

Boqueron: pok ker on: opened up from previous rinsingZaragoza: xar ak' os ha': scratched skin opened fitting (himself) in waterNueva Guadalupe: wa'at ahr lup: the occasion of returning to re-submergeOromontique: hor ohom on ti': crested one foaming at opening from previous slash Ojo de Agua: eye of water. Perhaps the large one threw water in the eye of the Maya ancestor, further precipitating the struggleCopinol: k'op in hor: first time lifting up crested one

32 - Chapeltique: ch'a' per ti': lying down rasping mouth. The infected one could barely breathe. Third night captured. One of the names the Maya gave to the large ones, Manik, means "bad convulsions" or "convulsions of the bad one."

33 - Guatajiagua: wat ah yah wa': being of infected one returns home. The death of the infected one.

40 - Rio Yubulba: yuh pur bah: Cluster moving up and down (over) body. Seems like a family of jaguars

41 - Ocotillo: ok koht ti': on all fours, mouth by the legs. Seems like the moment of attack of the jaguar.

42 - Sunsulaca: tzun sur ak' kah: foreigners begin peel off skin. Seem like they peeled off the skin of the dead one (what skin was left). Could be the basis for the much later practice of peeling the skin off of victims.

43 - Yoloaiquin: yor loh way kin: stick hits slacker sleeper. One or some slept late and were hit. Stick seems to refer to the large (tall) ones. Fifth night captured

44 - Rio Achiotes: ah ch'i'ih ot ehtz: observe shelter of giants

45 - Rio Tepemechin: teb ehm mech in: first descent to the hard shell. That is, to the Corinto Cave

46 - Cueva de Corinto: kor in toh: first nude sacrifice. First sacrifice at the hands of Xibalba, the victim of the jaguar, later their skin peeled (nude to the extreme). Hundreds of years later Hunahpu would be stripped before being killed here.

The Maya ancestors were held for some days in the cave. Hard to know how many but probably not a lot. At this point in the story is the escape of the Maya ancestors, perhaps in the night along the same path that they were already familiar with. After several hours near Ocotillo they may have turned northwest to follow the Torola valley. The trail picks up a bit later at Guiligüiste.

51 - Miracapa: nir ak' kahp bah: Scratch of skin of body heals. This probably refers to a scratch from the jaguar at Gualococti. Note: Seems that "nir" was changed to a more Spanish sounding "mir" in colonial times.

55 - Cucurucho: kukur uch choh: Tumbling (with) pleasure love. Was this amorous place named on the escape trip or perhaps on a more relaxed return visit later on, easily within a few hours walk from the camp at the Lempa?

57 - San Juán de Edén: san wa' ahn te' eht ten: Current being swollen, challenging clearing (of) trees. The clearing was made at a place called Jardín and people stayed probably some weeks or months where the Torola River joins the Lempa River (the swollen water). This is an example where a place with an indigenous name that sounded like Spanish words, was given that Spanish name, even if, in this case, St. John had nothing to do with Eden.

Discussion of the Wrestle at Chinameca

The wrestle at Chinameca is an important event in the Maya-Lenca-Olmec history. According to Raphael Girard, at least up to the 1950s when he wrote, the Ch'orti' did a wrestling ceremony in which a white giant (the blonde large ones) is against a black giant (the Maya ancestors, even though Girard had these characters in reverse order). The white giant is called "Gavite" by the Ch'orti', which is k'abi te', "seepage from trunk," a clear reference to the infected large one. The black giant is named Golillo which comes from k'ori, porter, one who hauled the things of the large ones. At the end of the drama, the black giant defeats the white giant, although in a final act the white giant defeats the black one, representing the later death of Hunahpu at the hands of Xibalba. The wrestling drama of the giants, with the names "Seepage from the Trunk" and "Porter" seems to be a clear reference to the events of Chinameca, some 10,600 years ago.

Other links to Chinameca comes from the name Olmec or Olmeca, which is based on hor mek' ha', or "Struggle with Large One over Water." This means that the person who wrestled the giant was Maix (Not Ready Yet), Majukutaj in the Popol Vuh, the founder of the Olmec and Lenca lineage. The wrestle could have been the moment in which Maix's name changed from Not Ready Yet to "Wrestle a Giant over Water." Surely the young Maix wanted to show to the others that he was ready. Chinameca also corresponds to Olomega, the lake home of the Olmec and Lenca for thousands of years: Olomega: hor ohom mek' ha': "froth (of) ones (that) wrestled large ones (over) water. Froth is a figure of speech that means lake or ocean but also home. It is not surprising that a name as important as Chinameca was carried to Mexico by the Olmecs and given to a village of Veracruz.

It was the same Maix or Olmeka (Holmekha) that had a partner woman of the large ones. The Maya ancestors named her Xb'akiyalo or xib pak'i yah lo', which means "molded by extended infected scraped." That seems to mean it was the daughter or possibly widow of the large one who died on the trail. This also makes it appear as though it happened very quickly after they arrived at Corinto Cave and that she was given to Olmeka as an honor for the wrestling match. The Olmec-Lenca lineage began as a half-and-half mix between the large yellow ones and a Maya-ancestor.

Another place where the history of the Chinameca wrestling match emerges is with the name Chichimeca of Mexico - a nomadic tribe of the north that, according to rumor, arrived to central Mexico as part of the make-up of the Aztecs. Chichimeca has two contrary meanings: chi can mean large or small depending on the inflection, so that Chichimeca could be "small one who wrestled against a giant over water" or "giant that wrestled a small one over water." The former is more likely and would indicate a residual Olmec population that had drifted north before the Aztec period. The latter case is interesting in that it would indicate a remnant population of the large ones (that would have separated from the El Salvador group sometime before 8700 BCE) in northern Mexico or the New Mexico area. Perhaps Chichimeca was meant as a warning, like Azteca, which in Ch'orti' is as tech' ka, that is "beginning of the practice of opening up."

Descendants of the Bering Strait passage group would be the people of the Clovis points who may have almost died out with the end of the large game in North America. At least one group of descendants made it to Central America. Besides Corinto, there is evidence of very early presence in Honduras and skeletal remains at Tulum, Mexico have a probable date of up to 14,500 years ago. In Ch'orti' Tulum means "beings (under) earth," signifying that the Maya had also found the skeletons. The passive treatment of the "beings" suggests that they were not Maya ancestors. And a second group may have gone to South America. The name Surinam means in Ch'orti' "first disappearance of the foreigners."

12/05/2012

[Major edits Nov. 27, 2016] The founding lineages of the Cho Maya, Kiche, Olomeca, and Cuzcatlan began their Mesoamerican culture on Isla Tigre, Honduras. Soon after splitting into the four communities, each by water, the leaders of the communities - Olomega, Tehuacan, Güija, and Coatepeque - decided to meet together in a central location perhaps once a year. They chose a spot that is roughly halfway (by water) between the mouth of the Lempa, the Cuscatlan base, and Lago Güija, where the Cho (Chorti/Itza) were located. This was essentially where the Sumpul River enters the Lempa River. This is known from the name Arcatao, a name that used to be associated with a place along the Sumpul River a few kilometers upstream from the Lempa.

The first meaning of Arcatao in Mi is ar k’at ta or, “the time of the crossing of the leaders of the remnants.” The ‘a’ followed by the ‘o’ is an unusual construction, saved for a special place. It is likely the early names Teotipa, Teopan, and teosinte were meant to mirror the ending of the name Arcatao.

The name Sumpul also explains a reason that the four remnants came together. On the surface the name is sum pul or “up and down twisting,” which does describe the motion of the Sumpul River as it comes out of the mountains of Chalatenango. However a double meaning is revealed by a hidden, dropped ‘r’, a somewhat common linguistic trick in Mi, in the first syllable. In this meaning Sumpul is sur rum pu ul, or “explain the land of the foreigner who slashes.” The foreigner was the Xibalba based in Corinto to the east. The four remnants came together to discuss what they had learned about the Xibalba and to defend themselves from the violent Xibalba. They probably hid this meaning so that the Xibalba themselves, who spoke the same Mi language, wouldn’t know the purpose of the Sumpul meeting place, which would be relevant if the four leaders planned to continue to meet regularly at the Sumpul River.

It may seem ironic for the Mesoamerican leaders to call the Xibalba “foreigners” since the Mesoamerican leaders were in the land of the Xibalba. But “foreigner” doesn’t relate to whose land but rather simply that the Xibalba were foreign to them, that is, from a different migration from Asia from them. This would seem to connect the Xibalba to the Zuni who were also called foreigners by Lakota-related people.

The use of sur in the hidden meaning of Sumpul explains who was doing the explaining - the Olomeka.[1] Based in the east at Lago Olomega, this makes sense - they were the closest to the Xibalba at Corinto. If Sumpul was named at the first gathering of the four lineages since they left Isla Tigre, the Olomega might have needed a year or two, but not too much time, to scout out the trails, hunting and other routines of the Xibalba. This would place the Sumpul-Arcatao encounter right around 8200 BCE.

[1] The Olomeka lineage identified culturally, or at least linguistically, with the n-mtdna division of the two migrations that left Africa about 60,000 years ago. The n-mtdna division used sur for “foreigner”, while the m-mtdna division used sun for “foreigner.” The n-mtdna identity for the Olomeka could stem from either the indigenous Taiwanese lineage or the Xibalba lineage or both, but not from the Torok, Siberia, lineage.

The place names around the Rio Sumpul tell the story of what happened next. At the confluence of the Sumpul and the Lempa is El Dique. In Mi this is ti ik’ k’er or “slashed and opened Ik’.” A member of the Ik’ party, from Tehuacan near the mouth of the Lempa, was killed. Next to El Dique is San Benito, tza an ben ni it to, “run from the sacrificing blows at the wetness to the wild hills.”[2] This name indicates that the men pursuing the woman still desired to carry out the sacrifice of the woman’s child. It also tells that it was the slain Cuscatlan leader’s child that the two shaman wished to sacrificed, but which he stopped.

[2] San Benito may be the first use of the prefix “San” in a name in Mesoamerica, usually indicating the death of a person or people. This usage of San may stem from a visit by the Mesoamerican people to the San people of southern Africa, the first human dissident group to flee the main group of humans over 100,000 years ago. The San name uses “san” in a similar way tza an or “run from the shiny (wetness).”

Northeast a couple kilometers is El Candungo or hel ka an tu un k’o or “other (woman) and beginner (young child) run from the corpse from the blades.” The wife of the Ik’ man and their child(ren) fled from the river up into the hills toward Candungo.

Who was this Ik’ leader? The ethnic name Ulua tells us more. Ulua is ul uh ha’ or “explain to the sacred (shamans) at the river.” It seems that the Ik’ leader (Ulua) was stopping a sacrifice process by one or more shaman at the Sumpul River. This tells us that the sacrifice practice did not stop at Isla Tigre. A link between the Ulua and the Cuscatlan is the name Usulutan near the mouth of the Lempa River which has a similar, but rare, structure: ulu.

The surviving woman and her family may have been pursued because soon they sought a more remote hideout. North is Eramon Mountain (left) and along the river, San Antonio de la Cruz.

San Antonio de la Cruz provides some detail about events: tza an toh on ni ot te hel la ak’ k’er ruz, or “shelter for the woman in the trees on the hill tired of the slashing of the skin of the swimmer.” Calling her husband a swimmer indicates that he was trying to escape in the river when he was killed. Nearby Eramon echoes these events: her ra am mo on is “woman tired of the previous trapping by the spiders.” “Previous” indicates the events did not happen while she was resting at Eramon. “Spiders” refers to the paddlers who killed her husband. Generally “spider” is used in a derogatory fashion. The wife of Ulua hid in the thick woods on Eramon Mountain.

Near the base of Eramon is El Zapote or hel tza ap po ot te, which means “shelter in the trees for the woman from the swings of those at the wet hole.” It has the double meaning of “rub” indicating that the woman rubbed her muscles from the difficult hiking. To the east a couple kilometers is the place name Tequeque, a curious name that indicates the woman played a trick on her two pursuers. Tequeque is te ek’ her k’er or “woman slashing the trees under the stars.” It repeats the slashing syllable twice to over emphasize it. I believe this name indicates the woman cut a false path through the trees to fool her pursuers and then doubled back toward the Sumpul River. Tequeque has double meanings of “strengthen” and “to flatten on the hills.”

About four kilometers northwest of Tequeque is El Zacamil. This indicates the direction of the two leaders following the false path of the woman. It is hel sak’ k’a am mi il and means “Woman satisfied to see the searching cats spidering along.” The leaders - the cats - continued walking, spidering, on the false path. El Zacamil became a well-used name in indigenous El Salvador and this was very likely its first usage. El Zacamil has a complete double meaning, hel tza ak’ k’a am mi il, “woman satisfied to see the skin of the cat at the wetness.” The woman doubled back from near El Zacamil, going west to the Sumpul River and saw the body of her deceased husband there.

The woman arrived to the Sumpul River perhaps near where the Manaquil River pours into the Sumpul, about four kilometers southwest of El Zacamil. Manaquil is ma an ak’ ki’ il or “run from the badness, see the skin of the dear one at the current.” This name seems to indicate that for some of her journey she followed the Manaquil River and upon reaching the Sumpul River saw the body of her husband. This also seems to imply that the Olomega leader in the boat with the body moved the boat upstream to the Manaquil confluence. Manaquil uses the nak’ syllable for a double meaning of “planets,” indicating that the same leaders who saw the spectacular triple planet alignment on Isla Tigre in 8208 BCE seem to be the ones who killed her husband and who now pursued her. The Kiche day sign of Manik seems to have been named for this woman, playing off the name Manaquil. Manik would mean “Ik’ who ran from the badness into the hills.” The Mars retrograde calendar moved into the Manik’ position in 8199 BCE, nine years after the triple planet event.

The second name of the Manaquil River, the Guayampoque tells more of the story of the woman fooling the pursuing men, wa ya am po ok’ k’er - “being who slashed (the brush) splits to the hole (Sumpul) from the painful spiders.” The prefix “Guaya” (Waya) was meant to sound like Maya, linking the name Maya to the two men who killed her husband. Guayampoque has double meanings of “night”, “circle”, and “rinse,” so during the night she circled back to the rinse of the Sumpul River.

The name of the patron saint of Arcatao, San Bartolome, tells us that the wife of the Ik’ (Ulua) leader attempted to secure the body of her husband at the river. San Bartolome is tza an ba ar to ol lo om mer or “time of the failure to free the shiny (bloody) body of the one sacrificed by the leaders at the foam.” In her first attempt and perhaps more, the Ik’ woman failed to secure the body of her husband. The name has a double meaning of “boat” indicating that the body was in a boat. Perhaps in a boat at the Manaquil.

The names Nombre de Jesus and Escalante on the Lempa River slightly downstream from the Sumpul confluence tell us that the body of the Ulua leader in the boat with the Olomega leader was also located there, probably after its Sumpul location. Nombre de Jesus is no om ba ar re et te che es su us or “the time of being capable of the challenge of observing the large paddler at the foam with the body from layer of trees.” The use of re at the end of Nombre helps to confirm it was an Olomega paddler since the Ulua women would have said rep while the Olomega man would have said ren; dropping the last letter - resulting in re - is consistent with one describing the other. A double meaning is “boat”.

Escalante is es k’al la an te or “observe the retained in the fatigued current from the trees. “Fatigued current” - lan - is a specific ethnic marker for the Olomega. Another indicator that it was an Olomega man with the body. The village just north of Escalante is Los Henriquez: lo os sen ri ik ker re ez or “beside the loose sky one (Ik’) who observed the (Olomega) paddler to free the gashed wise one.” This village is beside where the Ulua (Ik’) woman observed the boat with the body. It makes it clear she was attempting to free the body at the Lempa River.

Patanera is six kilometers north of Nombre de Jesus and seems to indicate the direction that the woman fled with the body, into the steep hills. Pa at ta an ne er ra - is “other (woman) runs with remains of body from the tail bath (Lempa) tired.” Pat has the double meaning of “pod” or “husks” which seems to indicate how the woman drug the body.

To the east is Quipure, which is ki ip pu ur re or “explain to the paddler the splitting open of the dear one.” Quipure indicates that the woman used persuasion with the Olomega paddler to free the body. Quipure has a double meaning of “lever on the up and down,” which seems to indicate that the woman used branches as levers to move the body up and down the hills. Los Sitios, about 10 kilometers north of Nombre de Jesus, seems to indicate the first camp of the Ulua woman on the run with the body. It is lo os si it ti os and means “the one who freed the one set down and opened by the blows from several (more than one) sets down.” This indicates that both Maya leaders (Cho and Kiche) attacked the Ulua man at the Sumpul River. Gualcimaca is two kilometers east of Los Sitios, in present-day Honduras. It is wa al si im ma ak’ ka, meaning “time of the being with beginner and the one blasted several times on the skin by the bad ones.” This meaning helps to confirm that the woman was carrying a (first-born) child while she was dragging the body of her deceased husband. Gualsimaca has a double meaning of “observed the trapped (body) at the river,” linking the name to the events at Nombre de Jesus.

Continuing to move toward Arcatao, Hacienda Vieja probably comes from Asenda Vieja or as sen ta ap pi es cha or “companion with remains observes the two with knowledge of the swinging practices.” She saw the Cho and Kiche leaders from the heights of Hacienda Vieja.

The name Nueva Trinidad, north of Eramon Mountain, and six kilometers from Arcatao, confirms that the woman did succeed eventually in acquiring the corpse of her deceased husband. Nueva Trinidad is ne eb ba at te er ri in ni it tat or “woman and first born separate from the tail with blasted body beside into the dense trees of the hills.” It has double meanings of “husks”, “ridge”, and “father.” The father reference likely refers to patriarch, or the leader of the highest-held lineage, the Cho at Lago Guija, pointing the blame at this leader. Whether the Ik’ couple brought a young child with them to the gathering (Arcatao) or the woman gave birth at the Sumpul, it seems like their child was threatened with sacrifice by the Cho and Kiche leaders. Through the intervention of the Ik’ man the child was saved. Although the Ik’ man was killed.

A few kilometers northeast of Nueva Trinidad is Las Vegas, in the direction of Arcatao. Las Vegas is la as pek’ k’as or “the one tired of the practice broke away into the hills.” The name Arcatao has a second meaning that corresponds to its moved location, its current location, about 10 kilometers northeast of the Sumpul River. Its second meaning is ar k’at ta hor or “the time of crossing the crests with the remains.” The k’at syllable ties Arcatao to the Cuscatlan people. The moving of a place name, like happened in the case of Arcatao, was extremely rare, but the Ik’ woman won that privilege through her strength and bravery.

The changing of the place names, is echoed in the modern day story in Arcatao of San Bartolome. This story maintains that the town of Arcatao was originally along the Sumpul River near Eramon Mountain. The community’s patron saint was San Bartolome, back in those ancient days. The statue of San Bartolome desired to be located at the current site of Arcatao, 10 kilometers away, and mysteriously moved to the current site. The townspeople found the statue there and moved it back to the river. Again the statue moved (or was moved) to the current site. Three times this happened, each time the townspeople moving the statue back to Eramon. Finally the fourth time the townspeople decided to follow the statue and relocate to the current Arcatao.

There are many similarities or at least consistencies between the community folk history and that portrayed in the place names of the region in the Mi language:

The statue (the body) was moved clandestinely from the river to the hills of Arcatao.

The community (place name) of Arcatao was moved from the Sumpul River to its current location, with Eramon Mountain figuring in both sources of the story.

There were those opposing a move to Arcatao in both stories.

The repeated moves of the statue seems to parallel the many attempts of the woman to secure the body.

The Sumpul-Arcatao incident shows that even though on the surface the Xibalba were the main enemy of the Mesoamerican people, the internal divisions would become the greater threat.

Many of the most common last names in Arcatao are likely indigenous rather than from Spain, with the meanings originating at the time of the Sumpul event. These last names include Guardado, Menjivar, and Dubon, which are rare - especially the latter two - in Spain.

Guardado is wa ar ta at to and means “time of the remains of the being sacrificed at the bath.” Guardado has a double meaning of “observe the fathers (elders)” - war tat, indicating that as the woman carried the remains she (the Guardado) were observing the Maya elders to ensure they weren’t caught. The tat (father) syllable was also used in Nueva Trinidad.

Menjivar is men chi ba ar and means “time of the large one with the body in the shade (nighttime).” Large one in this name refers to the ethnic group, the Olomeka. The Olomeka leader was watching the body of the slain Cuscatlan leader. A double meaning of “boat” confirms the body was in a boat. A second double meaning is “chip,” perhaps indicating that the woman through a rock at the Olomeka man.

Dubon is tu ub bo on and means “listen with corpse previously at the hole.” Dubon indicates that once the woman arrived to Arcatao she continued to listen, perhaps in the caves, for the two Maya leaders. People with the last name of Guardado, Mejivar, and Dubon are all likely descendants of the Ulua woman who grabbed the body of the husband and ran for the hills.

The hill directly behind Arcatao is called La Cañada. This name also seems to originate from these early events. It is ka an ya at ta or “one who ran, beginner, and remains of one pained at the bath,” indicating the presence of the woman, her child, and the remains of her husband. Within the flanks of La Cañada are small creases, some large enough to be caves. In Arcatao these are called “tatu.” This word seems to derive from the time of the woman hiding from the two leaders who searched for her. Tatu is ta at tu or “remains of the corpse from the bath.” It has a double mean of “father shaman” a slightly sarcastic expression for the Cho and Kiche leaders, just as Ulua is.

The Ulua killed at the Sumpul was perhaps one of the better known martyrs in El Salvador until modern times. The Zapotec, part of the Ik’ lineage like the Cuscatlan/Ulua, took this story as their deity, Pitao. Pitao means “remains of the companion from the blow of the leaders” or “companion of Arcatao.” Following this event the prefix “sum” became associated with the Cuscatlan/Ulua ethnicity. The name Chalatenango derives almost certainly from these events. It is cha al la at te ren nan k’o or “time of the woman in the trees tired of the blades of the two and the paddler at the bath.” What especially links the name to these events in the inclusion of paddler, using a syllable en that refers in a hidden way (leaving off the ‘r’) to the Olomega. It also has double meanings of “horizontal” perhaps referring to the woman in the tatu and “load”.

09/04/2011

Bariloche, Argentina, is a charming city in the beautiful southern Andes, especially popular as winter sports destination. Bariloche is a very old destination, dating back about 14,000 years. Its roots are connected to Chile and the Pacific Ocean.

The First Peoples from Asia arrived along the coast of Chile in about 12,500 BCE and settled at a site now called Monte Verde. Based on a study of the place names around Monte Verde, as well as other early South American sites, I determined that the place names are in a proto-Ch’orti’ (Maya) language. The language that the First Peoples spoke in Asia before leaving for the Americas was proto-Ch’orti’. Later, one group of these proto-Ch’orti’ speakers arrived at present-day El Salvador and become trapped in the Gruta del Espíritu Santo before escaping and founding the Maya-Lenca nations.

Proto-Ch’orti’ was the language the First Peoples spoke when they visited and camped out at Bariloche. There is an obvious clue that this area was settled or visited by the same people who were at Monte Verde: the common presence of the word component “huapi”. The Monte Verde site is on the Chinchihuapi Creek and Bariloche is along Nahuel Huapi Lake. “Huapi”, spelled “wahpi” in the Wisdom Ch’orti’-English dictionary, means “continue” or “keep on” in Ch’orti’. [Click to enlarge map.]

I will examine Bariloche along with four place names around it: Nahuel Huapi Lake; Dina Huapi, a town along the lake several miles northeast of Bariloche; Con Con, a small place halfway between Bariloche and Dina Huapi; and Nirihau, a small place a few miles east of Bariloche. I’ll take a look at the meaning of each of these place names using Ch'orti' meanings.

Bariloche means something like “heavy fold” and probably refers to the mountain folds that form peninsulas and islands in Nahuel Huapi Lake.

Nahuel Huapi Lake

Na’: round bowl or naht – distantWehr – rip, tear (the ‘r’ and the ‘l’ were equivalent at that time) or wet – companion, neighborWahpi – continue, keep on

The most likely meaning is “Continuous (long) rip in the bowl” which would be referring to the long tear that the lake seems to make in the mountains. An alternate meaning is “keep distant from companions” which would refer to the distance between companions at Monte Verde and the lake.

Dina Huapi

T’in – inner side of arch, concave bendWahpi – continue, keep on

This is not completely clear, but appears to be “continuous concave bend”, which could be a reference to the banks of the lake much of which are lined with high hills.

Con Con

Kohn – small stream

A double kohn would be a very small stream.

Nirihau (also spelled Nirihuau)

Niri – cureHa’ – waterWa’ – being

The most likely meaning is “curing water”. Nirihau is located at the source of a stream that flows in to the lake. Thus, it would be referring to the quality of the water at the Nirihau spring. If, instead, the original place name is Nirihuau, then the meaning would be “being cured”, which is quite similar to former meaning.

There are more place names surrounding Bariloche to be explored but this small sample should make it clear that Bariloche was part of the Monte Verde cultural complex in the 12,500 to 10,500 BCE period. I know that many of the names in the area also might have significance in Mapudungun (Mapuche), but they may have adopted meanings to existing place names.

One branch of the Monte Verde culture might have remained in southern Chile and the Bariloche area of Argentina, but it is clear that the main settlement - the one that maintained the Ch'orti' language line, at least, moved in about 10,500 BCE. Next I’ll explore the various migrations of the Monte Verde First People, starting, surprisingly, with the far north of the continent.

09/04/2010

Copan is one of the most important Classic Maya sites, the center of a kingdom from the 5th century CE (AD) until the 9th century CE. Archeologists have determined that Copan's elite were Ch'orti' Maya, but it was a multi-cultural site with many ethnic enclaves. One of those enclaves was the Poton Lenca, with their most important base at Quelepa, El Salvador.

According to Poton tradition, when Copan collapsed soon after 822 CE, the Poton royalty at Copan returned to El Salvador and settled at Sesori, currently in northern San Miguel department. From Sesori they created a Lenca federation with at least 60 affiliated villages. The modern Poton royalty trace their lineage directly from the Sesori leadership.

Before Copan was a Maya kingdom, it was a river valley with at least 1800 years of human settlement. Archeologists have determined, mainly by examining ceramics, that this early settlement of Copan was not Maya but Lenca. See, for example, Cameron L. McNeil, "The Environmental Record of Human Populations and Migrations in the Copan Valley, Honduras," in The Ch'orti' Maya Area Past and Present (Metz, McNeil, and Hull).

The two most likely dates for the settlement of the Copan valley are 2300 BCE (Before Common Era) or 1400 BCE, according to McNeil. Pollen grain has been dated to 2300 BCE that is either corn or teosinte grass. If it is teosinte it could have been either naturally ocurring or cultivated, since teosinte was cultivated by early Mesoamerican cultures to hybridize with corn. Of the ceramic shards found in the valley, the oldest possible date is 1400 BCE. The encountered ceramics that have been dated at between 1400 BCE to 100 CE indicate a non-Maya presence with the closest affinity to the El Salvador Pacific Coast (Lenca) or Olmec (consistent with a Lenca presence).

The 2300 BCE date seems more likely - the encountered seeds could be wild teosinte but it seems like quite a coincidence. The 2300 BCE date is about 300 years before the time of the major expansion for both the Maya and the Lenca out of their homelands in El Salvador to northern Honduras, Belize, northern Guatemala, and the Chiapas/western Guatemala Pacific coast. At the time of 2300 BCE, the Lenca were primarily centered in southeastern El Salvador, at Lago Olomeka (now Olomega) and nearby villages like Tihuilotal. If Copan was settled in 2300 BCE it would have been by the Lenca from the Lago Olomeka area of southeastern El Salvador.

If, instead, Copan was settled in 1400 BCE or soon thereafter, it would have been equally clear a Lenca settlement, given the type of ceramic that has been found there. By 1400 BCE the Lenca had an Atlantic coast settlement near the mouth of the Ulua River at Travesia. They might have had settlements in the Comayagua Valley and around Lago Yojoa as well. But even if some of the settlement push to Copan came from one of these Honduran sites, the major cultural and political push would have been from southeastern El Salvador, either from Quelepa or Lago Olomeka, since this area remained at this time the center of the Lenca people. Given the ceramic record at Copan, it seems that there was contact between Copan and southeastern El Salvador throughout the pre-Classic period.

The Maya arrived in about 100 CE to Copan. While it is more commonly thought that this first presence was Ch'olan from nearby, my belief is that it was a Kanjobal migration directly from Teotihuacan. This would help explain the bat symbolism common at Copan. Bat is the totem of the Kanjobal, who came out of the bat room of the cave with the Quiche, unlike the Ch'olan and Lenca ancestors who came out of the jaguar room. Then with the Ilopango eruption in about 420 CE causing all of western El Salvador to be uninhabitable for at least 100 years, a large migration of Ch'olan people arrived at Copan. Most likely both to assist his Ch'olan cousins but also seeing the opportunity to extend Tikal's influence, K'inich Yax K'uk' Mo' led a migration from Tikal to Copan. Under his direction the first dated monument was built in 427 CE, marking the beginning of the Copan high civilization. It is likely that at this time or soon thereafter, the Lenca were welcomed back to Copan since the Ch'olan migrants from western El Salvador were very friendly with the Lenca.

When the Maya created the tremendous Copan kingdom there was a Lenca enclave at Copan. This enclave would have maintained contact with all the Lenca centers in Honduras and El Salvador, including Quelepa. Thus from 2300 BCE or 1400 BCE until the time of Copan's collapse in about 830 CE - that is, for over 2,200 years - the Lenca people travelled between southeastern El Salvador and Copan, with only a small break from about 100 CE to 430 CE.

What route did the Lenca follow? It is possible that they used the length of the Lempa River to travel by canoe at least half the distance of the journey. This might have happened on the downstream journey from Copan to Olomeka, but given the Lempa's current it is unlikely a river journey was used going upstream. Most of the time they likely traveled by foot. The map details what I think is a likely route. The route avoids major rivers, for example, by staying east and north of the Lempa. The route also passes through some villages later well known as Lenca centers, such as Sesori and Arcatao.

In fact, the Quelepa - Copan trail is the best explanation for the concentration of Lenca villages in eastern Chalatenango, far from the main concentrations of Lenca villages in far eastern El Salvador. Six of the 60 named Lenca villages from 900 CE are in Chalatenango, with only a handful between those and the eastern ones beginning with Sesori.

By beginning to explore the possible routes between major trade centers we gain clues to the origin of many places along the way.

03/21/2010

As of yet, El Salvador has three important archeological sites: Cihuatán, for being a large multi-cultural city in the same end-of-Classic time frame as Chichen Itza; Joyas de Cerén, for its mid-Classic farming village locked in time by the covering of lava; and Chalchuapa, for being one of the most important Pacific Coast sites during the pre-Classic period. Of course, there still remains much research to be done at the four islands - Teopán, Teotipa, Olomega, and Monte Cristo - occupied by the Mesoamerican peoples for thousands of years before the beginning of the Mayan pre-Classic period.

While the archeological record so far gives an initial date of between 1500 and 1200 BC for Chalchuapa and an initial data of about 900 BC for San Andrés, I believe that the start date should be closer to 1800 BC and that they were built at the same time. The main argument for the date is that given the close proximity of development of the Ch'orti Maya with the other Mesoamerican peoples - the Lenca/Olmecs and the Zapotecs - prior to 1800 BC, it would be strange for the latter to begin monument building at Pacific coast sites further northwest 300 to 600 years prior to the Ch'orti. In addition it would be logical that the Ch'ortis would have started these sites soon after establishing their Atlantic base at Santa Rita, Belize.

The placement of Chalchuapa and San Andrés seems to indicate that they were built at the same time. The sites are 34.6 kilometers apart. The midpoint of the line connecting the two sites (see map; click to enlarge) is precisely at the lip of Lago Coatepeque. The builders of the two sites would have been living either on Teopán island, along the lakeshore, or near the accessible northern lip of the crater lake (at Siete Principes or Konko/El Congo), since that was the center of Ch'orti' development once the Quiche were forced to vacate the site.

Building the two sites equidistant from the northern lip of the lake would have given the sites symbolic importance. In addition, the line between Chalchuapa and San Andrés is 36 degrees south of a straight east-west line. This is almost exactly the angle of the sun in the sky on the winter solstice (Dec. 21) at this latitude (35 degrees south or 55 degrees above the southern horizon at noon).

Most of the archeological research at San Andrés has been limited to the building that took place during the Classic period. Very little is known what the site looked like during the pre-Classic period. Evidence has been found of habitation by 900 BC but given the limited research, it is quite possible that evidence for an earlier date could appear.

Like all sites in western or central El Salvador, San Andrés was abandoned for at least 200 years following the Ilopango eruption of 200 to 250 AD. When it was reestablished, it was a regional center that included the new better-known site of Joyas de Cerén. At lease seven structures were built including two main pyramids and a palace. The Salvadoran Cultural Ministry maintains a museum at the San Andrés site.

Chalchuapa consists of five main plazas spread over six square kilometers. At times the site is called by one or more of the plaza names: Tazumal, Casa Blanca, Pampe, El Trapiche, and Las Victorias. There are at least 58 large earthen mounds surrounding these five plazas. El Trapiche plaza includes several large Olmec-style carvings. Stela at this plaza indicate that writing was practiced here during the late pre-Classic period. Tazumal Plaza appears to have been developed during the mid-to-late Classic Period. The site was likely Ch'orti Maya throughout the pre-Classic and Classic periods, but then Pokoman Maya settled here before the arrival of the Spanish.

Even though it was not as large as El Mirador or Kaminaljuyu, better known pre-Classic Mayan sites, there are a number of indications that Chalchuapa was the most important site during the pre-Classic period. One is that its abandonment after the Ilopango eruption coincides with the collapse of the Pacific Coast predominance during the pre-Classic period. Two is that it seems to have maintained the closest relationship with the Olmec area of Mexico - this is not surprising given the cultures former close geographic relationship in El Salvador. Third is that many of the pre-classic pottery advances seem to have take place in Chalchuapa. The polychrome pottery which appears to have been a lead-in to the Classic period is found extensively at Chalchuapa.

I believe that Chalchuapa played two more very important roles. Not only did it play a role in coordinating Maya relationships with the Olmecs, it did the same thing with the Chavin and Paracas civilizations in Peru, as well as peoples in Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, and Columbia. These trade relations were extremely important for the Mayas.

I would also maintain that throughout the pre-Classic period, unlike the Classic period, there was one recognized, maximum spiritual leader or council among the Ch'orti, and that leader or council was consistently located at Chalchuapa. Even the great center of El Mirador relied on Chalchuapa for its spiritual direction. But after the unpredicted and unexplained Ilopango eruption of 200-250 AD, the spiritual leaders of Chalchuapa, and El Mirador with it, lost their legitimacy. The Classic period, on the other hand, would be marked by many competing claims for spiritual and political legitimacy.

03/14/2010

The Quiche Mayas were forced to leave El Salvador in about 2300 BC and by 2000 BC the Ch'orti Mayas at Lago Güija and Lago Coatepeque were anxious to expand beyond their El Salvador home. The Ch'ortis, like the neighboring Lencas and Tehuacanos (Zapotecs), had been sailing the Pacific Ocean for over a thousand years.

But an Atlantic ocean base was needed in order to better explore the four corners of the world. The Ch'ortis had been trading with local people in northern Belize already and it was an easy decision to send an expansion group north to the Corozal Bay, to the site known as Santa Rita. A few hundred years later they sent a much larger expansion group north which began to build the El Mirador site and soon many other sites in the area. Those who went north mixed with the local population and soon the Yucatec or Maya language began to develop. [Click to enlarge the map.]

The Lencas based at Lago Olomega in southeast El Salvador had the same need. They simply went straight north and followed the Ulua River to the coast. There they founded the site of Travesia and from that base explored the Atlantic Ocean extensively. This was the beginning of separation of the El Salvador Lenca language and Honduran Lenca language.

The Atlantic Ocean currents would naturally carry the Ch'orti and Lenca rafts and reed boats north and east around Cuba and then northeast into the North Atlantic. Then a southward current would take them close to the Spanish or West Africa coast. The current from West Africa would take them directly back to Travesia or Santa Rita.

A significant group of Lencas moved about 250 kilometers west to the Mexico-Guatemala border region. Here they founded sites that came to be known as Izapa, Paso de la Amada, La Blanca, Ocos, and El Mesak. A few hundred years later Lencas from Travesia, Olomega, and the Izapa region moved to the Gulf coast area of Veracruz, Mexico, and founded the Olmec civilization. They took with them the name of Olomega (Olomeka) and much of what they learned in their travels of both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

The Tehuacanos, like the Lencas, trace lineage to Balam Akbar. They lived on one of the four original Mesoamerican island civilizations, Teocan, at the mouth of the Lempa River. One of the double meanings of Teocan is 'island of wild vegetation' or 'monte'. Anyone who has spent much time in that region, the Bajo Lempa, can understand why it would be called that. The 'Monte' descriptor in Spanish becomes a trace clue in guessing where they moved to. It appears they moved from Isla Montecristo to Monte Alto in southeast Guatemala, and soon would move to the
Oaxaca Valley of Mexico to found San José Mogote and Monte Alban. There they would become known
as the Zapotecs.

While all the expansion continued, the base of operations for the Mayas continued to be western El Salvador at the two new sites of Chalchuapa and San Andrés.

But the second most important geo-political event of the last 5,000 years in Mesoamerica – second only to the arrival of the Spanish – was the banishment of the Quiche Maya in about 2200 BC. The Quiche Maya were always considered the lead among the four first civilizing nations. This is shown by their founder being called Manix, or worker of the earth – the first to embrace the vision of an agricultural way of life. In addition, the Quiches lived in the most beautiful of the four island homes – Coatepeque, or what they called Tammakchan.

By 2500 BC corn was getting much closer to it current size, from its start of just a few kernels. The leader of the Quiche was the most reliant on corn in his diet. Now we know that reliance on untreated corn can lead to pellagra and this is exactly what happened. Pellegra causes lesions on the skin, gauntness, mental illness, and death. But the other Mayan and Mesoamerican leaders didn’t know about pellagra.

Instead they remembered a story from their past, from their creation story, the Popol Vuh, that the famous Quiche leader, One Hunahpu, married an outsider, a Xibahkha woman. Her name was Xib’akiyalo. Surely it was this mixing of blood – the blood of the Xibahkhans, represented by the tapir, and the blood of the Quiches, represented by the serpent, that caused the disease – the lesions, the bleeding, the mental illness and the death.

Because they were considered a people of mixed race, which led to disease, the others decided that the Quiches must be sent away before any more inter-marrying happened. And the message of not inter-marrying must go out to all neighboring peoples. The Quiches were sent on balsa rafts as far as they could make it with their provisions of food and water. The Ch'ortis quickly moved into their Lago Coatepeque home and assumed role among the civilizing peoples.

The Quiches made it as far as an island along the coast of present-day Sinaloa, Mexico. [Click to enlarge map.] They named the island, Teocapan (now called Teacapan) for the island home they left, Teopan. The ka in the middle of Teacapan means 'to remember'. Thus, Teocapan means “remembering Teopan”. The made a spectacular home on this island and its memory survived in the stories of the Toltecs and the Aztecs.

The Quiches named the region after their totem, Maza (Deer), which is also the name of many early Quiche leaders. The present-day city of Mazatlán gets its name for the Quiche name of this region.

The Quiches were in Sinoloa before they split into lineage groups, so all those with Quiche lineage - the Kekchis, Uspantecs, Pokomams, Sacapultecs, Sipacapas,
Tzutuhils, and Cakchiquels - share the Mexican experience.

The Quiche continued to hybridize corn at their new island home of Teocapan. They found a new location for Balsas teosinte grass in the mountains about 50 miles south. They named the place Teosinte and also named a place just off the coast Teosinte, so that they and the locals would remember how to get up to the highland teosinte.

They often visited a place to the south, Matanchén, where they harvested mollusks. They quickly became great sailors, living along the coast. They formed new villages to south near Tecomán, in present day Colima, at a site called El Opeño, in Michoacán, and up high on the plateau in the Valley of Mexico at a site now called Tlatilco. At some of these sites they reunited with their old cousins, the Olmec/Lencas, and the Tehuacanos/Zapotecs. The Olmecs introduced them to their allies from West Africa who had joined them on the Gulf Coast. Some of them joined the Quiches to live at Tlatilco. The Tehuacanos taught the Quiche how to sail to Ecuador and Perú.

By about 1500 BC, one portion of the Quiche community moved back toward their homeland. They settled at present day Guatemala City at the site known as Kaminaljuyu. This probably became the Uspantec – Pokomam lineage. The arrival to Kaminaljuyu from Mexico likely gave rise to the name for the present country of Guatemala:

Guatemala likely means "to come back home, not tired". I'm not convinced about the meaning of "mala" but "Guate" is clear - to return home.

Remembering the bad blood between them, the Ch’orti’s at Lago Güija, Lago Coatepeque, Chalchuapa, and San Andrés were threatened by the Quiche presence so close by. To outflank the Quiches, they moved a significant portion of their elite and population to the north to northern Belice and to northern Petén and began to build the site of El Mirador.

The competition and the tension between the Ch’orti’ and the Quiche was only just beginning and hundreds of years later became outright warfare. All this happened because of a lack of understand about mental illness and a misunderstanding over the cause of that mental illness. And the message of needing to maintain pure blood was also based on false information and therefore a false message.

What are the clues that early Mayan leaders suffered from pellagra, that the Quiche suffered the first and most, and that the Quiche were banished to northwest Mexico?

The Quiches have an oral tradition of having spent at least several hundred years in Mexico and of all the Mayan languages Quiche has the most Nahuat influences. The Toltec and Aztec traditions also speak of having come from an island city on the northwest coast of Mexico.

As I have already discussed, the first chapter of the Popol Vuh appears to have been written in order to explain how so many people, including the leaders suffered from disease: it was the fault of the gods. The gods failed when creating humans three times, creating humans that were gaunt (stick figures), spoke to animals, or were mentally ill. This is an attempt to change the theology to account for widespread disease and mental illness. This chapter explains that it is the fault of the gods that people became ill, sick, and died. The gods goofed up three times in their creation of humans; it is not the fault of your grandmother and your grandfather that they were mentally ill.

The Quiche seem to have become confused over key points and names in their history. This may be a result of leaders who suffered from mental illness due to pellagra and became confused in the retelling of the Popol Vuh. Another possibility is that the Quiche leaders had forgotten and when they asked the Ch’ol / Ch’orti’ Maya for clarification, they were deliberately misled. The best example of this is the name of the Quiche leader among the first four civilizing leaders. The Popol Vuh says that his name is Majukutaj, which means ‘Not Right Now’ in Quiche. This is an unusual name given that the other three are Night Jaguar, Ik Jaguar, and Kitze Jaguar.

If it were a different name, the tzolkin day-sign calendar offers us a clue what it might have been. The day sign Manik in Yucatec has a symbol of a grasping hand or a working hand. In Ch’orti’, this would be Manix or worker of the earth. The fact that it refers to the Quiche is shown by the Aztec name for this day sign, which is Mazatl or Deer. Many early Quiche leaders were called Deer and it appears to be their totem animal, most likely since very early they followed the deer and tried out various plants to see if they were useful or edible. Thus this sign might have been Masa Manix or Deer Worker-of-the-Earth. Somehow, in their confusion, this morphed into Majukutaj for the Quiche. Another clue that this happened comes from the Ch’orti’ where maix means ‘not right now’. This would suggest that the first step in the confusion was to change the name from Manix to Maix, retaining the meaning of maix.

One of the more curious anomalies in the tzolkin, the 260-day calendar of 20 13-day weeks, is that the Quiche version has a different starting day than the more commonly used Yucatec version. The Yucatec version begins with the day Imix (Imox in Quiche) and ends with day Ahaw, also spelled Ahau (Junajpu in Quiche). The end day is all important since it is the last day of the year that gives its name to that year. The Quiche version starts six days later with Kej (Manik’ in Yucatec and Manix in Ch’orti’) and ends with Kame (Kimi in Yucatec and Cimin in Ch’orti’). I believe that this is also a legacy from the banishment of the Quiches. Manix was the first Quiche leader while Ahaw (chief) was the title used by the Ch’orti’ leader after the Quiches left.

Another change in the day sign appears with the sign known as Hunahpu in Quiche and Ahau in Yucatec. Both of these mean ‘lord’. The original name for this day sign was probably Sutz’ or ‘bat’ since the Quiche lord came out of the bat room of the cave. The other three leaders came out of the jaguar room and there is a sign associated with jaguars. When the Quiches were banished from their homeland, the Ch’ol’-Ch’orti’ changed this day sign to Ahau or Ahaw. The best clue that this happened comes from the Aztez name for this day sign, Xochitl. From their base in northwest Mexico, the Quiche provided many root words or sounds for the Nahuat language. In this case Sutz’ (bat) morphed into Xochitl (flower). In addition the Mayan glyph for this day sign appears to the be face of a bat.

The Popol Vuh discusses how the Mayan leaders of the previous age, One Monkey and One Artisan are overturned and the new leaders, Hunahpu and Ixbalamque take over. While some interpret this as a transition from a non-Mayan time with non-Mayan leaders to the Mayan age, I believe that it really is one set of Mayan leaders overturning another set. In this case One Monkey and One Artisan represent the Quiches who were overturned and Hunahpu and Ixbalamque represent the Ch’ortis who took over leadership. One Monkey and One Artisan appear to become mentally ill: they are called monkeys, they run around naked, and roam the woods. Even their grandmother cannot keep from laughing at them.

As I already described in a previous post, the meaning of ixseems to have changed from ‘Mother Earth’ to ‘the disease’ with the advent of pellagra. Likewise, after this, imix described untreated – diseased – corn, while a new word for corn – nar – described the good, treated, corn that did not have the disease. The curing of corn is called nixtamalization – ridding the corn of ix.

Finally, we have the clue of the names along the northwest coast of Mexico, as already discussed above, including Teacapán, Mazatlán, and Matanchén. There are also only two occurrences of the place name ‘Teosinte’, or some variants of that, in Mexico, and both are close to their Teacapán home.